


The Female Archer

by Apollos_New_Kids



Category: New Kid Army - Fandom
Genre: Child Abuse, New Kid Army
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 12:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14111991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apollos_New_Kids/pseuds/Apollos_New_Kids





	The Female Archer

A sharp twang sounded before a short squeal and a thud. 

"Another good clean shot García!" The teen turned around to grin at a young girl standing behind him, the brunette's chest puffed out in pride. 

"Of course it was!" She hummed as she walked over to her kill, bending carefully by the boar before giving a satisfied nod. Just like everyone thought, the girl had felled it in one shot. With a grunt, she shoved her hands under the creature and lugged it onto her shoulder to begin the trek back to the village. 

"I don't know why your father protests so strongly against you being an archer." 

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "He believes that it is a girl's place to look after a home and family, not to be out and adventuring with a trusty bow strapped to her body."

"Well, he's right. A lady has no place in the hunting grounds! You should be thinking of your future. You'll make a man very happy and bare him plenty of children." A new boy walked up to the pair, a haughty look on his thin face. 

"Oh go fuck yourself, Benjamin. I belong with a bow in my hands, not a babe."

"You are a girl though! Girls should be dainty not acting like in such a...Such a heinous manner!" The blond looked both disgusted and offended at the very idea that she'd prefer a weapon over a man.

She simply laughed and walked past him, making sure to flick boar's blood into his face. "I am not a princess. Nor are you a royal. You can not boss me around. If you are so against me hunting, don't come to the feast tonight."

"And why should I not attend?"

"Because I killed most of today's hunt!"

She was followed by her friend who laughed at the disgusted look on Benjamin's face. No one liked the stuck up boy. He shoved him lightly and smirked. "Go live in the city! A filthy village full of smart girls is no place for you!" 

The two friends grinned as they made their way to the main hall, carrying Ava's latest kill towards the rest, greeting the cooks with a wide grin.

However, that grin disappeared when she went back outside and heard a familiar angry voice yelled out at her. "Avelyn García! What do you think you're doing?"

Avelyn cursed under her breath, sadly handing her bow and arrows over to her friend. 

"Sorry, Ava. Didn't realize we took that long."

"It's okay Dominic. He would have found out anyway. I'm covered in animal blood after all and even if I washed it off and changed before he found out, Benjamin would probably rat me out." 

She shook her head and walked over to her angry father, wincing slightly as he grabbed her arm roughly and started dragging her home, muttering angrily the whole time. She knew that she was in massive trouble for going off and hunting.

Sure enough, the second the two were in the house, the screaming started. She was just glad that her younger sibling was at a lesson.

"YOU ARE A LADY! LADIES DO NOT HUNT! THEY STAY AT HOME AND RAISE A FAMILY AND SERVE THEIR HUSBANDS. THAT IS YOUR ROLE AVELYN!"

"WELL, MAYBE I WANT TO DO SOMETHING ELSE! MAYBE I WANT TO HAVE FUN AND MESS AROUND WITH HUNTING!"

"YOU LOOK FILTHY! GIRLS DON'T GET DIRTY!"

"YES WE FUCKING CA-"

A sharp sound filled the air as Ava stumbled back and collapsed to the ground, her cheek stinging harshly. Her hand raised carefully as she touched it before glaring up at the angry man.

"YOU DO NOT TALK BACK AND SWEAR YOUNG LADY! I AM YOUR FATHER AND YOU DO WHAT I SAY!"

She growled as she stood up. Unfortunately, her father was one of the more old-fashioned men in the village and deemed that his family must be under his control and do as he said and if they disobeyed, he believed that he was free to punish them as he saw fit.

"Go to your room Avelyn. I do not wish to see your face right now. You shall be eating here instead of attending the feast. You have no choice in this so do not try to fight me." 

Ava rose to her feet and nodded before brushing herself down and heading to her small room that she shared with the one person she adored more than anyone. 

She sighed and looked in her mirror. "Can't let Ari see this. They'll get upset." She hummed softly, using a spell that the child had happily taught her to cover the mark before getting changed, erasing all evidence of the hunt.

She watched as the sun slowly started setting and smiled as the front door opened and an excited voice filled the air. She would have gone out running but she knew she'd get into trouble.

Soon enough, an excited child swept into the bedroom, their brown cloak swirling around them. "AVA!"

She laughed and caught the blond in her arms as they jumped at her. "How was your lesson?"

"So good! I finally learnt some water magic!" They grinned and skipped over to a plant on their side of the room, face screwing up in concentration as they focused. A few seconds passed before a thin stream of water escaped their fingers and started to water the plant. 

They turned to Ava once they finished with a wide grin. "That was amazing Ar Ar!" 

At the fond nickname, Ari beamed even more as they sat down next to her, giggling and squealing as she pulled them into her lap and started to tickle them.

They happily nuzzled into her chest before frowning slightly. "Mama said you weren't coming to the feast tonight."

"Yeah. Father caught me hunting again." 

Ari's frown deepened at the news. "I told you not to go hunting today." They gently set their hand on her cheek. "He hit you again didn't he? I can feel the magic covering it." 

"Can't hide anything from you can I Ari?" She chuckled and softly clicked her fingers, the magic fading. A soft tingling graced her face as Ari's sweet voice murmured softly. Soon enough, the bruise was completely gone. "There we go!" They smiled softly and tapped her cheek. "You need to be more careful sister dear."

"I can't promise that but I can try my best." She smiled and kissed their forehead. "You have fun tonight at the feast tonight okay?"

"I'm not going. It's not fair if I go and you're stuck at home alone." 

"Ari it's the season's feast. You can't miss it!" She smiled softly at the pouting child. "It's extremely nice of you to offer to stay with me but I don't want you to miss out on everything. I can go to the next one."

Ari whined softly but knew that Ava wouldn't give up until they went to the feast. However, they were going to do everything they can to get their father to allow her to come with them. After all, when Ari García wanted something, Ari García would do everything to get it.

Luckily, they didn't have to. Just as they had gone out to attempt to change their father's mind, a knock had sounded at the door, and like the good child they were, Ari opened it. 

They grinned at the sight of the head of hunting and stepped aside. "Welcome, Sir!" 

The man chuckled and ruffled Ari's hair. "Come on kiddo. I told you just to call me Jacob." He smiled kindly down at the giggling child. "Is your Pa home Ari?"

"Yes, he is! I'll go get him for you!" They grinned and ran off, hearing their mother greeting Jacob. 

"Papa! Papa!" 

"What is it, child?"

"Jacob's here! He wants to talk to you!"

Instantly the man assumed it would be about Ava. "I see. I suggest you go to your room and let the grown-ups talk son."

Ari managed not to wince. No matter how many times they told the man how they identified, he still insisted on calling them his son.

"Yes, Papa." They spun on their heel and calmly walked back to their room, jumping onto Ava's bed. "Jacob's here!" 

Ava's eyes widened and she smiled. Jacob had been one to encourage her to follow her dream of becoming an archer. "That's great news! Maybe he can change Father's mind!" 

The two talked excitedly until their mother knocked on the door with a smile. "Jacob wants to see you two." 

The children jumped up with a grin and quickly followed her, Ari almost floating in their excitement, only being grounded by Ava's chuckle and their mother's hand on their shoulder. 

The two respectfully greeted the two men with a nod as their mother moved to stand by their stone-faced father's side. 

"Hello, Ava." 

"Hello, Jac-Sir." She was cut off by her father clearing his throat roughly as a warning for her being disrespectful. 

The tan man just laughed. "Please Ava. Call me Jacob. Just like I told them." At his words, he chuckled and ruffled Ari's hair, drawing a giggle from the child. 

"Avelyn and Arelis should call you Sir. It is the only way they should address you. It is respectful after all."

"Please Alexander. They do not need to act so formally around me." Jacob shook his head. Everyone knew how formal and strict Alexander García was. 

"Still. It is not right for them to address you so casually." 

Shaking his head, Jacob decided to just move on. "I am here in regards to Ava." 

"Yes, I understand. It is not right for her to attend hunting with the men. She is a lady, not a boy. She needs to be at home so she can learn how to run her own household one day." 

"Actually, that is completely the opposite of what I am here about." He grinned at the young girl. "I've actually come to inform you that Ava has been accepted to train under the local guards in their archery program." 

Ava's eyes widened in shock as Ari squealed and hugged her tightly as they jumped, accidentally floating as they did so. Her mother grinned and ran over to join the hug. "Congratulations Ava!" 

"I...I didn't even put my na-name forward for it!" 

"I know. I put your name in. I've seen your skills. You're more skilled than half the boys in this village Ava. You'll do great." 

Ava grinned and managed not to squeal. She finally got the chance to do something she had wanted to do since forever.

"It'll be announced at the feast tonight and you will find your classmates being announced alongside you. You are the first to know. I felt like congratulating you in person. ." 

Her father lets out a strangled noise before clearing his throat. "She shall be there." It was clear that he wasn't very happy about this news, but it would be rude to keep her home. Becoming part of the trainee corp was a high honour. Refusing to allow her to go the feast would be horrible. 

"I shall see you four there." With that, Jacob ruffled the floating child's hair again, patted Ava on the shoulder and left. 

"Let it be known Avelyn that I am not happy with this. I still believe that you should not be a part of this but it would be disrespectful for you not to attend. Now go get ready and Arelis. Stop floating." 

The two siblings giggled as they ran off to get ready for the night. Giving that she was to be announced as part of the archery trainee class, she decided not to wear one of her dresses. Not that she ever willingly wore them.

Instead, she changed into some pants and a shirt before walking out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, humming at the sight of Ari looking at one of their dresses. "I want to wear this tonight Avey."

"Why don't you?"

"Because Papa will get mad at me again. I don't like when he gets mad. I don't like when he calls me his son either. It makes me feel bad that I'm not his son." The child sniffed slightly, whimpering as they were scooped up into their sister's loving arms. 

"Hush now little one. Don't cry. Don't feel guilty for being who you are. Don't cry my darling mage." She hated seeing the child cry. It hurt her heart. "You'll look beautiful in whatever you wear."

"I just want to make him pro-proud." 

"You do Ari. You're extremely skilled in magic. You're learning at a record pace. You've already surpassed one of your teachers and you're only eight! He is proud of you. Believe me."

"She's right my darling. Your father is very proud of you, even if he doesn't show it." 

Ari grinned shakily as the kind woman walked over, scooping them up out of Ava's arms. "You can wear whatever you want okay? I'll make sure no one gets annoyed with you wearing it okay? Here, I'll even do your hair if you want."

"Okay, Mama!" The small mage smiled and moved to sit in front of the mirror, allowing her to start working on their blond hair as Ava started unbuttoning the dress, carefully taking Ari's cloak off and hung it up, humming softly. 

"Alright kid. Time to get you dressed." She chuckled softly, helping them into the dress before buttoning it as their mum gave the finishing touches to the blond locks. Both women kissed them on the cheeks before the three walked out.

Instantly, Alexander's disapproving gaze landed on Ari and their outfit. "Arelis. What are you wear? You shouldn't be wearing that. You're not a girl."

The child in question lowered their head and walked back to their room to quickly change into more masculine clothes. 

"Alexander! It's a big day for us all. They should be allowed to wear what they want!"

"*He* should wear clothes matching *his* gender Camilla." The man crossed his arms, nodding in approval when Ari came back out. They had fixed their hair to look more boyish and nervously tugged at their shorts. "That's better. Now. Come on. It'll be embarrassing if we are late." 

Camilla smiled sadly at Ari and rubbed their shoulder. "Sorry, bub."

"It's okay Mama." They smiled up at her as they held her hand. They didn't mind that they had been ordered to change. Well, they did, but they weren't going to complain. 

Soon enough, they were in the large hall and the children had split from their parents to joke around with the other kids.

"Avelyn darling. Why are you wearing clothes not suited for a lady like yourself?" 

Ava huffed and turned around to face a mortified looking Benjamin. 

"One. I am not your 'darling' so don't you dare call me that. Two, I shall wear what I can want. Someone like you can't dictate that. You will see why I am wearing this outfit later." 

With that, she turned her back on the blond and went back to talking to her friends. However, all of the children's voices stopped at two sentences. 

*"At least your brother is wearing something fitting, instead of a ridiculous dress. They make him look like a freaky mash of a girl and boy."* 

"Ava..." Ari's shaky voice spoke through the silence but Ava didn't listen. She spun around and grabbed Benjamin by the shirt. 

"What the actual fuck did you just say?" She was angry. If she wasn't in the hall, she'd beat the shit out of him. So she filed that away for later. She would get revenge for Ari.

"I said the tr-truth." The teen had paled. Everyone knew what Ava was capable of when she was mad and you never ever *ever* insulted, Ari. Especially in front of her.

"You did not fucking say the truth. You are so fucking lucky that we're at the feast. If we weren't, you'd be laying on the ground crying like the pathetic bitch you are. Understood?" 

"U-Unders-stood!" The word can out as a panicked squeak before he was thrown to the ground, gaining the attention of everyone in the hall.

"YOU DO NOT CALL MY SIBLING A FREAK EVER AGAIN YOU HEAR ME? NEVER!" 

Angry whispers from the adults filled the air as a man stormed up and roughly yanked Benjamin to his feet. "What did you say, boy?"

"I said, no-nothing Father!" 

"Tell me what the fuck you said about them."

**"Tell me this instant!"***

Scared silence was the only reply. 

"One of you tell me what my son said." 

Dominic stepped forward, glaring at the pale boy and resting his hand on Ava's trembling shoulder. "Sir, he said that it is better for Ari to be wearing male clothes because if they wear anything else, they look like a freaky mash of a girl and boy."

Benjamin started shaking as the truth came out and soon found himself on the ground with a stinging cheek and tears in his eyes. 

"Get out and go home. I do not want to see your face. I thought I raised you better than that." The stone-faced man glared down at his son, watching as the child took off running with silent tears streaming down his face. 

Instantly, the man's face softened and he knelt down. "I apologize deeply, Ari. If I had known that he would say something so horrible like that, I would have never allowed him to come to the feast." 

"It's ok-okay Sir." Ari wiped their eyes and gave the man a shaky smile. It wasn't okay. It really wasn't. They hated being called out like that. 

With a sad nod, the man eventually left, allowing the kids to have their space. With the help of their friends, Ari calmed down and got distracted from what had just happened.

A few minutes later, the crowd was called to the table by the scent of freshly made food. Ari sat between their mother and sister, ignoring their stone-faced father who they knew had agreed with Benjamin. 

The family ate with the rest of the village, joking with their nearby friends. The head of the village stood up, tapping his glass with a fork to gather everyone's attention. 

"I am glad to welcome you all to the annual Summer Feast. As always, we have some important announcements but we'll get to them in a little bit. For now, enjoy your food!" He chuckled and sat back down, joining the others in eating as some locals sang for them all before sitting down and being replaced with another group. 

Eventually, he stood up again to begin the topics of the night. Reports were given and it got to the moment that Ava had been waiting for. 

"It's time to announce this year's junior archery corp who like always will be training under the local guards. As you know, only six young skilled people are chosen." He grinned and pulled out a list. 

"Dominic Clark, Andy Smith, Jake Davis, Adam Green, Phil Cook and saving the best for last, Ava García." 

Ava grinned, standing up and joining the boys at the front, listening to surprised noises at the sight of a girl standing up with them. She was the first girl who had been accepted. 

Dominic grinned at her, whispering softly. "I knew you could do it, Ava."

"Thanks, Dom. I knew you would make it as well." She grinned back and nudged him gently. 

"Yeah but you're the first girl." The young boy grinned at her. The two were like brother and sister and were closely matched in skills so it was only natural that both of them were standing up there. 

Excitedly, the two along with the other four took the cloaks with the symbol for the junior archery corp printed proudly on the back.

The six happily swung them on and walked back to their seats, with wide grins on their faces. Ava's was the widest and she wasn't surprised when Ari met her halfway and jumped into her arms. She couldn't help but laugh as she carried them back to the family, setting them down on the bench before sliding in next to her.

"You look so pretty in the corps' cloak Avey!" Ari grinned as they looked up at Ava, gently running their fingers over the fine material in awe.

Ava smiled and kissed their temple before looking back up at the village's chief. She was still in shock that she had become the first girl to be accepted into the junior archery corp.

More time to eat was given to everyone before another announcement was made. 

"As many of you know, we have a few mages in training. In fact, one of them has already surpassed a teacher. I was informed today that this child has just surpassed the teacher and earned their next cloak. That child is young Ari García."

Ari's eyes widened. They had only earned their vermilion cloak a month ago. In shock, the young child walked up to the front a violet cloak being wrapped around them, showing off that they had moved to a new level of their training as a mage.

They grinned shyly as the hall filled with applause once more. When dismissed, they grinned and were swept up into Ava's arms and spun around with a laugh. It was unheard of for a child to change cloaks in only a month.

The two sat down, their new cloaks swirling behind them. The night passed on with more people going up to accept awards. 

A few hours later and the long tables were pushed to the side, allowing all of the villagers to dance the night away. 

The two García siblings couldn't stop grinning for the whole night. Eventually, the time came for them to leave as Ari was falling asleep in their mother's lap.

With a tired smile, Ava waved goodbye to her friends and went with her family, taking the sleeping child from her mother so the woman could help support her slightly drunk husband on the walk home. 

She still found it hard to believe that she was now an archer in the Junior Archery Corp. Shaking her head, she smiled and carefully placed Ari into their bed. She gently kissed their forehead and tucked the small child in after removing their cloak and hanging it up before taking her own cloak off, hanging it up next to her sibling's. 

With a soft hum, she turned around and slipped into her bed and fell asleep. She would start her training the next day.


End file.
